"Uwaaaaaaaahhh!!"
The Nine Realms, Asgard.
Heimdall, expressionless as ever, heard the scream echoing from the Bifrost tunnel. Following the sound, he watched as three figures gradually emerged into view.
The first was Hela, daughter of Odin.
The other two were strangers.
One was a bare-chested, golden-haired man. The other, grotesque in appearance, was gasping for air with his mouth wide open...
Clearly, the scream just now had come from that very disheveled figure.
"I'm beginning to think bringing you to Asgard was a mistake," Hela said, glancing at The Other, who was still suffering from Bifrost disorientation. Then, with the poise of a native and the pride of royalty, she shifted her gaze to Lothar and stretched out her hand toward the thriving city below:
"What you see before you... is Asgard."
Lothar followed the direction of her hand, and in an instant, the architectural splendor standing in stark contrast to the Black Quadrant overwhelmed his senses.
Magnificent. Majestic. Breathtaking.
Even amid the chaos of war, the most powerful of the Nine Realms exuded prosperity. The people of Asgard wore smiles not of fear, but of hope and contentment.
"Not bad," Lothar nodded noncommittally, though his interest faded quickly.
He pressed his right hand against the silver bracelet on his left wrist, reactivating Woz.
Inside the Bifrost, Woz's database had inexplicably malfunctioned. To be safe, Lothar had shut down the machine—a rare occurrence since his childhood.
"Woz is now starting up…"
"Woz initialization complete."
"Unknown environment detected. Activating automatic scan mode."
"Scanning… Scan failed. Alert: Lord Lothar, this location is highly dangerous. Woz recommends immediate departure."
Projected again before him, the azure feline eyes of Woz flickered with lines of data—but produced no results. Asgard was entirely encased in a shield of unknown energy, and Woz's current capabilities couldn't penetrate it.
"Accessing another's domain without permission… not exactly polite, Lothar."
A voice, deep and commanding, resonated behind him—familiar, from the royal halls of Jotunheim.
The sovereign of Asgard. Instigator of the war across the Nine Realms—Odin.
"Bring him to me, Hela."
"Yes, Father."
With a respectful bow toward the Grand Hall of Asgard, Hela turned to Lothar.
Recalling the data about Odin in his adoptive father Thanos' archives, Lothar followed her across a special corridor of the Bifrost, entering Odin's throne room.
There, before the towering throne, stood a powerful figure clad in golden armor, holding a gleaming spear.
Odin.
As Lothar and The Other came to a halt, Odin was gazing upward, admiring a mural of himself and his daughter leading Asgard's armies in the conquest of the Nine Realms. His eyes shone with reverence.
As the current leader of the Asgardian Aesir, Odin had long harbored a simple yet profound dream: to lead Asgard in dominion over all Nine Realms.
And indeed, after ascending the throne from his father, he had done exactly that. The war now engulfing the Nine Realms was orchestrated entirely by Odin.
Thanks to both a dominant national power and his own near-limitless strength, the Asgardian Expeditionary Force had enjoyed victory after victory. Odin's name resounded across the cosmos.
"Father."
Having completed her mission, Hela knelt on one knee. In her right hand, the Casket of Ancient Winters glowed an icy blue.
"Well done, Hela," Odin said as he turned around with a smile. "This would be our second meeting, wouldn't it? Welcome to Asgard, Lothar."
His tone was calm, almost friendly, his smile warm. This did not feel like the feared warmonger of Nine Realms legend—more like a kind, middle-aged man from the neighborhood.
"What do you think?"
"Prosperous," Lothar replied warily, eyeing Odin with suspicion.
In terms of splendor, Asgard certainly surpassed the Black Quadrant. But Lothar had long grown accustomed to its harsh environment. This grandeur did little to move him.
He'd seen civilizations far more magnificent in past missions.
"I'll have a ship prepared to return you home," Odin offered casually. "Until then, why not explore Asgard with Hela?"
With Heimdall's clairvoyance, Odin had already witnessed what transpired on Planet U40—especially Lothar's explosive increase in power.
"And of course… it would be wise to contact your father," Odin added cryptically.
Lothar's brow furrowed. Odin's tone implied he'd watched the entire affair on U40.
And—father?
"Lord Lothar, Woz has intercepted a transmission from Proxima Midnight."
Woz's voice echoed through the throne hall.
Odin gestured lightly, granting Lothar permission to leave—with Hela escorting him, of course.
"It's definitely the power of an Infinity Stone…"
The true reason Odin had Hela bring Lothar here was simple: he wanted to confirm something personally.
As he watched Lothar's departing figure, Odin's smile slowly faded.
"But it's only a fragment of the power. Incomplete…"
His mind returned to the meeting in the royal court of Jotunheim—with Thanos, lord of the Centauri Galaxy and master of the Black Quadrant. That encounter had opened Odin's eyes.
The Nine Realms were no longer enough. Asgard's strength—and his ambition—had outgrown this corner of the cosmos.
There was a vaster universe waiting.
"Thanos..."
...
Skrull Empire, Third Administrative Sector.
Thanos stood atop a ruined battlefield, his massive blade resting against the scorched earth. His expression remained unreadable.
"Lord Thanos, we've established contact with Lothar's AI construct, Woz."
Ebony Maw, breathless with urgency, appeared before him to report the breakthrough: Lothar was alive.
"Asgard. Odin, is it?"
Understanding dawned in Thanos' eyes. He looked skyward to where a Skrull fleet was already emerging from the upper atmosphere.
"Open communications with the Skrull leader."
With the Mind Stone now in his possession, it was time to negotiate—properly. The Skrulls had debts to pay.
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